A fundraising campaign launched on the Crowdfunder platform has raised more than $11,000 to cover the surgery for Lester Domínguez, the young man from Holguín who was left in a wheelchair after being attacked with a machete to the neck more than three years ago.
The campaign, organized from Las Vegas, Nevada, by a person identified as "Sunrise H," aims to raise $50,000 and as of the close of this Monday has 269 donors and 49 days remaining until its deadline on September 21, 2026.
The stated goal is a single one: to finance the operation that will allow Lester to walk again.
On Sunday, Lester posted a video on Facebook in which he explained his situation and asked for support from his followers: "Hello my people, I am Lester Domínguez, the guy who was attacked with a machete three years ago for being robbed. I now need to raise 30 thousand dollars for my surgery in the United States. I have already obtained a humanitarian visa due to urgency, and I need to go collect it on September 11."
The young man clarified that the funds do not go through intermediaries: "No one touches it, it goes directly to the account," referring to the account of the American hospital where the procedure will take place.
To those who cannot donate, he asked them to at least spread his message: "If you can't, please share the video and tag people so that we can reach more individuals. Thank you very much, and may God bless you."
His father, Dennis Domínguez, explained the medical severity of the case: Lester has an inverted vertebra that progressively compresses the spinal cord, with the risk of total paralysis if not addressed in time.
"Here, every minute counts, as the child has an inverted vertebra that is compressing his spinal cord, which could result in paralysis," he wrote on Facebook.
The compression has progressed to the point where Lester can no longer open his hands or operate his wheelchair by himself.
The young man's ordeal began on March 21, 2023, when he was 16 years old and was attacked with a machete in San Germán, Holguín, in an attempt to steal his Huawei phone.
The incomplete C5 spinal cord injury left him in a wheelchair and subjected him to months of intensive therapy with mechanical ventilation, tracheostomy, pressure sores, pneumonia, and bacterial infections.
The aggressor, Adrián Grass Bermúdez, was arrested after Lester's phone was found buried in the yard of his home. The Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Holguín requested 20 years in prison for robbery with violence and intimidation, plus an additional four years for ongoing theft.
The oral hearing took place on May 15, 2024, and the trial was concluded for sentencing.
In August 2025, doctors confirmed that Lester could undergo surgery in Cuba, but the procedure never received a definitive date due to the collapse of the Cuban healthcare system.
According to his father's complaint, the Cuban government has not provided him with any kind of assistance for over a year.
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